I just like J72 have loved reggae music eversince i heard it. But a big moment for me was my first Midnite experience. They came to Bend, OR in 2008 and that was the sound the vibes and the band i had been searching for. I was not even aware of VI reggae till 2008 and now VI reggae is about all i listen too.

Quoterossta8888
I like both Hail H.I.M and ganga smugglin!! Great first experiences! My first non Marley experience was gentelmen out of Swedan or Germany. Not my fav anymore but i was big into him in 02-03

gentleman is one of my favorite live performers to date hands down. Not big on playing him in the home or car, but I will drop everything to go see his live show...

For me it was this tune first heard late at night on an outdoor sound system at my first reggae festival when SNWMF was at the old location.

I think it spoke to me because it is so different from anything I had heard before then, plus it hinted at a deep levels of reggae music. But I think what really did it was catching other peoples reaction to the tune and seeing how much they were enjoying hearing it.

First live show I ever saw was Israel Vibration back in DC. It was still all 3 of them together and I was never the same after that. I remember watching Flabba most of the show and being amazed. Also seeing the members dance on their crutches was amazing. I had liked reggae casually before that but after that night I have never strayed from the music. I actually became aware of Israel Vibration just before the show by some random guy in the record store telling me and my friend to buy the Same Song album.

Steel Pulse was second show I saw about a month after seeing Eek at the Mateel they came through....Roller Skates (Life Without Music) was the only tune I remember after the show but I went back for more

90.7 has a history...up in PDX it is KBOO community radio...Big up Shocks of Sheba, Ital Vibes, Higher Reasoning Reggae Time and then some...for keeping the vybz to the fullest....first time reggae EVER crossed my ears was the opening theme Roots Rock Reggae from a DJ who long preceded my time

QuoteNinja
Steel Pulse was second show I saw about a month after seeing Eek at the Mateel they came through....Roller Skates (Life Without Music) was the only tune I remember after the show but I went back for more

My cousin cant stand reggae music, but requests this song everytime he gets in my car....good music is just good music....

"Take Me Home Country Roads" - Toots and the Maytals , when I was a little kid I remember my parents having a party and my dad picking up the needle on the turntable and playing that tune over and over while I spied on the the crazy grown up party from the top of the stairs. He was doing rewinds without knowing it, ha ha.

_________________
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.
Cesar Chavez

In the early '70sI had purchased a Desmond Dekker and a Toots & the Maytals LP, both of which I listened to constantly. Then one day in early '73 while browsing the Tower Records racks, I saw this LP with such a strange looking and eyegrabbing cover that for some reason I bought it without a listen (not too expensive either). When I got it home & put it on the turntable my ears were assaulted by this maniacal scat-shouting in semi-incomprehensible Jamaican patois, on top of sparse but tough as nails rhythms. My first impression was "WTF?" but as the album played on it grew on me. I marveled at how Big Youth (which I first thought said "Big Mouth" on the LP cover!) could take the same rhythm track and create an entirely different lyric and melody atop it from what he'd done earlier on the album. I started tuning into the reggae radio program on KPFA featuring Jamaican dj Tony Wright, who had a lot of Big Youth's vocal vibes in his between-tunes announcing, and I found that I could call him with questions about the music I heard and he was more than happy to answer them, even if some of them were somewhat clueless. His show filled in the spaces around my Big Youth album, exposing me to the joys of U Roy, Dennis Brown, Ken Boothe, Ernie Smith and many others, including the Wailers, who on his suggestion I went to hear later that year when they toured the US for the first time. I was already hooked, but the band's first strains of "Rasta Man Chant" put me in a trance I have yet to recover from.

Edit: btw Tony Wright is now better known to most of the bay area reggae scene as "Tony Moses"

Black Uhuru's Sponji Reggae was the tune that made me realize that reggae could fit all my moods. At that point I was familiar with Jimmy Cliff & Bob Marley but not much else. I wrote a whole blog pos about it last year, in case anyone is interested!

Yeah first non-Bob that caught my attention was Black Uhuru's Sinsemilla ("I got a stalk of Sinsemilla, Blooming in my backyard...&quot! Also Eek-A-Mouse Sensi Party. Funny how it was weed songs that grabbed me, but hey I was in high school!

I have liked reggae for a long time. First concert was UB40 in early 80's. The like did not truly transition into love until about 5 years ago. This tune was a big inspiration for me at the time. It kinda has a hip hoppy beat, but def a reggae tune to me. The lyrics resonate. Nuff Respek to Jah Sun!

It was a long road to my reggae turing point. First there was Millie Small, Desmond Dekker & Johnny Nash on the radio in the late 60's - early 70's. Then I heard about Bob Marley & The Wailers in about 1973. I thought "The Wailers" meant they hunted whales. Well I finally figured that out. Then in 1977 I had a couple of Toots albums & Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Live" album. Also seeing BMW in San Diego in 1979 sparked more interest. But it was not until I heard Bob's song "Sun Is Shining" riding on a bus through the Mont Blanc Tunnel inbetween Italy & France in 1980 that reggae really hit me. It was a great moment ~ it was snowing on the Italian side of the tunnel & coming out of the French side the sun was shining with Bob's song still playing over the bus' speakers. The final point was in 1981 driving through the Mendocino redwoods one fall morning that I heard Peter Tosh's song "Mystic Man" on the radio. It was foggy outside (also foggy inside the car if you know what I mean). It was a perfect fit Tosh, the song & the fog. That was it, soon after that I was buying reggae albums by the dozen & going to live shows. It has been an incredible journey with reggae & many trips to Jamaica since then. That's my story.